US officials suspect links between arrested suspect, bin Laden

SEATTLE, Washington, Dec 18 (AFP) - US law enforcement officials said Saturday the man arrested four days ago with bomb-making materials at a US-Canadian border crossing near Seattle might have links to accused terrorist Osama bin Laden.

An Algerian identified as Ahmed Ressam, 33, was arrested north of here late Tuesday at Port Angeles, Washington, with 54 kilograms (119 pounds) of nitroglycerin as well as bags of urea -- enough to make a bomb to destroy four city blocks.

Although no official would speak on the record, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Seattle said Saturday that the four Casio watch timing devices and the nitroglycerine found with Ressam are the "signature devices" of bomb-making methods taught at bin Laden's terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

Similar devices were used in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as in attacks in the Philippines, an apartment bombing in Moscow this year and the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, according to officials.

Bin Laden, an exiled Saudi dissident, is wanted in the United States on charges of masterminding the east Africa embassy bombings.

The FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency, which have taken over the investigation from the US Customs Service, say they are looking for an accomplice, who reportedly was seen with the suspect in a Vancouver, British Columbia, hotel room last week.

The timing of Ressam's arrival -- shortly before the millennial New Year's Eve celebrations -- "is very interesting," Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) spokesman Jesse Chester said Thursday.

"It raises a lot of questions in a lot of our minds as far a motive," he added.

Chester said the incident was "of great concern" to the ATF.

Ressam had reserved a room for Tuesday in a downtown motel just blocks from the Space Needle and the Seattle Center, site of the city's huge New Year's Eve bash.

According to charging papers released at a Friday hearing, Ressam also had a reservation for Wednesday on American Airlines Flight 408 from Seattle to New York, with a stop in Chicago, and a ticket for a connecting British Airways Flight 116 to London.

Documents found on Ressam showed he had recently traveled from Montreal to Victoria, British Columbia, by commercial airplane and rented car.

He and a second, unidentified man, had apparently been living for the past three weeks in a room at the 2400 Motel in Vancouver. One man registered in the name of Benni Noris.

A front desk clerk, who refused to give her full name, said police showed up two days ago to check motel records. The men paid cash and were not seen except at check-in and check-out, the clerk said.

The second man was not mentioned in court or in charging papers.

Canadian Press reported a search of Ressam's Montreal apartment turned up no explosives, but Royal Canadian Mounted Police would not say whether they found other evidence that could help the investigation.

"We obviously don't want to create a bias by divulging that kind of information," said Leo Monbourquette, RCMP spokesman.

On Thursday, Canadian police announced the discovery of an "Algerian cell" allegedly created to finance international terrorist organizations.

Eleven people, all Muslims in Montreal, have been arrested in connection with the probe in recent months, police said.

According to Canadian officials, Ressam belongs to the Islamic Armed Group (GIA), a notorious terrorist organization operating in North Africa and Europe. They said he had recently tried to obtain Canadian citizenship but was denied it.

Ressam also was charged Friday with having false identification and making false statements to US Customs Service officials.

He was carrying ID papers in two names - Benni Antoine Noris, the name used to make the plane and local motel reservations, and Marion Roig.

Meanwhile, the main US-Canadian border crossing at Blaine, Washington, is reporting one to two hour waits for travelers as US Customs agents make closer than usual inspections because of the terrorist alert caused by the Port Angeles incident.